How GMTI 2016 is Influencing the Muslim Travel Market

When the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index was first published in 2015, it provided groundbreaking insights into the Muslim travel market - one of the world's fastest growing tourism segments. Its second release in 2016 has integrated new data and in-depth analysis to offer an updated and even more comprehensive travel research publication.

Providing useful insights into the Muslim travel market, the Global Muslim Travel Index is an invaluable tool for all stakeholders in the tourism industry - travellers, tourism boards, economists, travel services providers, stakeholders, investors and industry specialists. It provides an excellent overview of how Muslim travel is impacting the overall travel market and helps to identify patterns and trends of the market segment. Since its launch of its first release in 2015, the index has greatly influenced the Muslim travel market and has also shaped tourism strategies.

The Index has helped governments establish successful strategies to attract Muslim travellers while providing valuable information for destination marketing. Top ranked Muslim-friendly destinations have been able to use the Index as a marketing tool to promote their destination as a Muslim-friendly destination to travellers , while destinations with lower ranks have used the Index to identify the specific criteria and areas that they need to improve on. Non-OIC destinations in particular have become highly competitive – with Singapore being ranked 8th in the overall destination rankings and Japan having climbed up the ranks this year, due to its government making conscious efforts to cater to Muslim travellers.

The Index has also provided travellers useful information to help them make educated decisions during travel planning. Travellers are able to use the index to determine the level of facilities that will be available to them at specific destinations and obtain a general idea of how Muslim-friendly a destination is. The index analyses several Muslim-friendly criteria in great detail – such as the availability of Halal food and prayer facilities – which will help Muslim travellers know what to expect at a destination, in terms of facilities.

The MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2016 analyses 130 destinations against a backdrop of criteria to rank them based on how Muslim-friendly they are. Muslim-friendly criteria included the suitability of the destination as a family holiday destination, the level of services and facilities it provides, accommodation options, marketing initiatives as well as visitor arrivals.